This invention relates to a base station device for use at home in a mobile communication system.
In the conventional mobile communication system, access from a mobilephone, which is an example of a mobile unit, to the network system has been normally made through the network authentication protocol used in the higher hierarchy higher than that of the base station, on the basis of the subscriber information (user information) stored in the HSS (home subscriber server) which is installed in the core network belonging to the company that provides the mobilephone service. Accordingly, the function of setting the right to access of the mobilephone to the network system has not been provided in the base station for the mobilephone.
FIG. 5 shows in block diagram the system configuration of a network for the third generation mobilephone system that is now under way.
In FIG. 5, when initiating communication in, for example, voice, a user terminal (or UE: User Equipment) 11 such as a mobilephone makes radio access to a BTS (base transceiver station) 12 which is within radio link to the user terminal 11. The BTS 12 is connected via a transmission line 13 with an RNC (radio network controller) 14 as an upper device. The RNC 14 has the function of controlling the wireless layer and is connected via a transmission line 15 with a core network 20.
The core network 20 comprises, for example, an MSC (mobile switch center) 21 for controlling the radio link to the user terminals 11 registered in the network to which the core network 20 belongs; a visitor location register 22 for registering the current location of any specified user terminal 11; an HSS (home subscriber server) 23 for storing the subscriber information for respective user terminals 11; and a GMSC (gateway mobile switching center) 24 for controlling the connection to other networks to which the core network 20 does not belong.
In such a network system as described just above, when a user terminal 11 accesses the associated BTS 12, the information on the user terminal 11 is sent to the core network 20 via the RNC 14. The core network 20 makes, through network authentication protocol, the authentication of the accessing user terminal 11 on the basis of the subscriber information stored in the HSS 23. When the user terminal 11, or user itself, is identified, the information on the location of the user or the terminal 11, and the subscriber information are delivered to the visitor location register 22 and registered therein.
As described above, in the conventional network system, the right to access of the user terminal 11 to the network system has been set up on the basis of the subscriber information stored in the HSS 23 belonging to the core network 20, and the BTS 12 has not been provided with the function of setting up the access right.
A publicly known technique, which relates to this invention, is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-10-340231. According to JP-A-10-340231, in case where a single IC card is to administer plural data such as cash cards, credit cards, self IDs, and commuter tickets, a separate memory for storing data of high secrecy is provided in the IC card. Authentication process is performed for the access demands from the reader/writer for which the right to access to the separate memory is set up. Thus, access is permitted only after the authentication process has been properly completed.
Recently, there were discussions about the provision of base stations for home use in the houses of the subscribers to the network system. The provision of such home use base stations aims to realize the subscribers' accesses to specific users at specific locations. In this case, however, it is presupposed that the number of the subscribers is small. With such a base station for small-scale home use, as shown in, for example, FIG. 6, a problem may arise that users who are other than the intended user and located within radio link to the home use base station may saturate the access handling capacity of the base station so that the intended user fails to access the base station.
FIG. 6 illustrates a case where plural user terminals other than the intended user terminal access the base station for small-scale home use. In FIG. 6 is shown the house 31 of a subscriber to a network system, in which a base station 32 for small-scale home use is installed. A user terminal 11a is originally intended to access the base station 32 while other user terminals 11b, 11c . . . are other than the originally intended user terminal 11a and located within radio link to the base station 32.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the case where the user terminals 11b, 11c . . . other than the intended user terminal 11a are located near the base station 32, when the unintended user terminals 11b, 11c . . . start accessing the base station 32 at the same time, the access handling capacity of the base station 32 may be saturated so that the intended user terminal 11a fails to access the base station 32.
As described above, in the conventional network system, the right to access of the user terminal 11 to the network is set up in the hierarchy higher than that of the base station 12, and the function of setting up the access right is not provided in the base station 12 (32). Accordingly, the base station 32 for a small-scale home use cannot reject the access demands from the unintended user terminals so that the accesses of the unintended user terminals to the base station cause the access of the intended user terminal to the base station to fail.